The Birthday Bonfire

I love fire. Granted, I’m not as big of a pyro as my brother, but I do love a good fire. The mesmerizing flames, the smell of campfire, the crackle of the wood, the light pushing back the darkness… it all makes my heart happy. So when my family asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday this past weekend, one of the first things I thought of was a bonfire.

My pyromaniacal (I use that word loosely…) brother was more than happy to oblige my wish. The evening started early with burgers, brats, and hot dogs on the grill, watermelon, chips, chocolate strawberry muffins, and the best pickles ever made (seriously, Farmer’s Garden pickles – check them out!).

After we stuffed ourselves we made our way over to the fire pit. The guys hacked at some wood, with only minimal bleeding, and piled it up. My brother got out the lighter fluid (aka cheater fluid) and doused the pile. It didn’t take long to get the blaze, and the party, started.

My cousin and I found some nice long dead sticks and got to work making marshmallow spears. A few minutes and a pile of shavings later we were torching our mallows in the blazing hot fire.

As it started to get dark my brother pulled over the wagon and cranked the tunes. Old school rock, a little Demon Hunter, and just enough country to annoy my cousin thumped through the sweet sound system. We sat, we talked, we took pictures, mom sang with the music, we caught June Bugs,  and we laughed – a lot.

The flames danced with the music, the wood crackled, and the cares of the world fell away. A good bonfire with good people will do that; it will help you forget your cares for a few hours, and that is present enough.

A bonus present is looking at pictures later and seeing creepy fire eyes staring at you over the fire! See them? Look toward the top left of the photograph.

And that, my friends, is the story of how I captured The Birthday Bonfire. Click to Tweet!

Until we meet again,

Josie